C187
The Marquess of Freeheiden extended his unscathed hand towards Ethel.
-"Hey, you."
-"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, forgive me!"
-"No, I..."
-"I'll do anything if you forgive me!"
Ethel was so surprised that she fell to the ground and begged several times.
From the moment she remembered Countess Wallace and her life in the family, her mind was filled with the thought that she must be forgiven quickly.
If not, she'll be beaten.
The Marquess spat out short words with a panicked voice, but they didn't really reach Ethel's ears.
The many years of persecution by the Wallace family had driven her insane.
While Ethel kept begging for forgiveness, the Marquess finally withdrew the hand he was offering and walked away.
-"I'll take care of the treatment alone, so leave."
If it sounded like an especially weak voice, was it an illusion?
Fortunately, Ethel wasn't punished or disadvantaged over time.
It was something she should be happy about since she shouldn't be expelled from this place, but for some reason, she felt sad.
From that day on, Ethel began to worry about the Marquess, who lived alone in his room.
According to her colleagues, it was an unusual situation.
She heard that he had never stayed in his room, perhaps because he refrained from doing activities.
Is that headache really that bad?
Ethel had many concerns and wondered if there was anything she could do in her helplessness.
Then, one day, she accidentally ran into the Marquess again.
-"What are you doing here?"
Ethel was about to ask Jack for a favor, who was always waiting near the Marquess's bedroom.
The Marquess opened the door shouting Jack's name and frowned when he saw the two of them together.
Ethel felt embarrassed and showed the tray she was holding.
-"I made cinnamon tea that is said to be good for headaches, so I was going to give it to the Marquess through his assistant."
-"What?"
-"I'm sorry. Again, I'm meddling for no reason."
-"... Go ahead."
-"Really?"
-"The person who made it should bring it herself."
Dazed, Ethel followed the Marquess into his bedroom.
Maybe because it's a place he's never been before? For some reason, her hands started to sweat from tension.
Even after she served him the cinnamon tea, the Marquess didn't tell her to leave, but rather pointed with one hand to the chair next to the bed.
As she sat hesitantly on the chair, he abruptly sat on the bed and took a sip of the warm cinnamon tea.
-"Is this good for headaches?"
-"Yes, yes! I saw it in a book."
-"Do you mean a book from my library?"
-"That's right. I searched and found a book listing the benefits of various herbs."
-"I had never opened such a boring book."
The Marquess of Freeheiden narrowed his eyebrows as if the cinnamon tea wasn't to his liking and said bitterly.
-"To be honest, it's a futile effort. My headaches are quite special, so I've tried all kinds of medicinal herbs that were said to be good for headaches since I was young, but they didn't help."
-"Hmm, I see."
-"Maybe there's a rare herb that grows somewhere distant and I've never tried it, but something like cinnamon has no effect even if I eat it for 100 days."
Ethel blushed with embarrassment. She felt like she wanted to crawl into a rat hole.
In fact, Ethel also hoped that would be the case, but she couldn't just stand still, so she prepared cinnamon tea.
Unfortunately, cinnamon was the greatest kindness Ethel could offer the Marquess.
But suddenly, different emotions than shame and sadness appeared in Ethel's mind.
She opened her mouth as she looked at the cup of tea that the Marquess had left on the tray.
-"It has no effect, but he emptied the whole cup. As expected, the Marquess seems to be a kind person."
For a moment, the Marquess seemed as if he had been caught off guard.
Then he said sarcastically that he was prone to saying absurd things in a tone full of discomfort.
As the words came out impulsively, Ethel also thought it was a mistake, but something unexpected happened.
The next day, Jack came to see her and said that the Marquess seemed strangely cheerful yesterday and asked her to prepare cinnamon tea next time.
Ethel didn't know why this happened, but she was still willing to pick cinnamon that was in good condition.
The Marquess was like her benefactor, and she was happy to help such a person.
A couple of times a week, Ethel brewed cinnamon tea and served it, waited until the Marquess finished drinking it, and then brought the empty tea cup and tray.
She wondered if she could ask Jack or another servant after he left, but she didn't bother to ask that question out loud.
... She wasn't sure why. She just didn't want to ask.
Anyway, Ethel stayed by his side for about fifteen minutes while the Marquess emptied his tea cup.
He was silent, and Ethel didn't dare to speak to the Marquess first, so they didn't talk much compared to the time they spent together.
However, after over a year since the Marquess started drinking cinnamon tea, they started to feel quite comfortable.
Enough to bring up a story even if it was just once.
-"I think I should become an emperor."
It didn't take long before he woke up after collapsing due to a severe headache.
The area under his eyes was swollen, and his voice was hoarse.
-"This damn headache will only disappear when I become an emperor."
-"Oh? Is that so?"
-"The period when the headaches worsen is getting shorter. Everything will be fine for a while. But how long will this last? I fear having to live like this for the rest of my life."
-"Marquess..."
-"If the opportunity had been completely blocked, I would have given up my useless hopes long ago. Damn it, why did my father come now...?"
Several months later, Ethel understood exactly what he meant.
This was because the emperor acknowledged the existence of his eldest son at an imperial banquet and enrolled him in the royal family.
The whole world was in an uproar, and even the employees of the Marquess of Freeheiden talked about it whenever they had the chance.
-"What? So, will the Marquess continue to stay in this mansion?"
-"Well. According to rumors, His Majesty the Emperor even offered him a luxurious residence in the imperial palace, but he rejected it."
-"Why?"
-"Well? Isn't it bothersome to have political enemies, Her Majesty the Empress, and His Highness the Crown Prince?"
-"Anyway, I'm glad. If the marquess had left, the number of employees would definitely have been reduced, so I don't have to worry about getting fired."
-"But why didn't the Marquess dance with anyone at the last banquet?"
-"Isn't he eyeing a daughter from a precious family?"
-"Well. It's all a sophisticated political stratagem. By inducing competition for loyalty among the followers in that way..."
Ethel looked at the Marquess's room with the lights off with confused eyes, listening to her companions' chatter in one ear.
She continued to stay at the Marquess's residence, but now that he had become a prince, his time at home decreased.
Naturally, the number of times Ethel brewed cinnamon tea decreased, and the Marquess, or rather the prince, was now a hard-to-see person for her.
However, despite his tireless efforts to become emperor, Crown Prince Mikhail was a very powerful enemy.
One day, passing by the prince's room, Ethel heard a scream that sounded like a growl.
-"Damn you, Mikhail! You have a woman who can take away your headaches! The only way for me is to become emperor, so why do you interfere in everything? Why?!"
It was a very desperate and cruel voice.
For some reason, tears welled up in Ethel's eyes.
Seeing him suffer felt like her heart was breaking.
Only then did she realize the feelings she had for the Marquess.
Ethel loved Terence.
If possible, she wanted to make all his wishes come true. She wanted to make him emperor.
However, for Ethel, the daughter of a count's family who had collapsed, escaped, and became a mere maid, it was like a dream.
All Ethel could do was pray to the goddess to help him become emperor.
Ethel woke up early the next day and headed to the mansion's prayer room.
But one morning, she ran into the prince.
-"Where are you going?"
-"I have some business to attend to in the prayer room."
-"So early? It seems you are very faithful."
-"......"
There was an awkward silence.
She breathed calmly, wondering if she had anything to say.
-"I will become emperor."
-"... Yes."
-"Do you understand? I should become emperor."
It was a solemn statement.
Why would the prince say this to someone who was just a maid? It was something she couldn't understand.
She was curious, but she didn't get a chance to ask.
A few days later, Jack gave Ethel a letter of recommendation and introduced her to another job.
-"... Did I do something wrong?"
-"It's not like that. It's just that His Highness is planning to enter the imperial palace soon, so we need to reduce staff."
Ethel wasn't the only one who was fired.
Ethel had no choice but to receive a large severance pay and leave the residence of the Marquess Freeheiden.
Until the moment she left, she hoped to meet him by chance, but as expected, she wasn't lucky.
Ethel went to the mansion of an old lady introduced by Jack and returned to work as a maid.
The old lady was a quiet and kind person, and her work wasn't very difficult.
Another advantage was that she insisted on being completely neutral even in the political sphere.
-"These days, the factional struggle between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Second Prince is fierce, and in times like this, it's inconvenient to work in a family that enthusiastically supports one side."
-"That's right. Once the winner is decided, the loser's faction will be completely shattered. Wouldn't we end up in danger if we stay there entangled for no reason?"
Other employees said that jobs like this aren't easy to come by and that Ethel was lucky.
But Ethel was not in a good mood at all.
It was especially bad after hearing rumors that Terence spent time with the ladies of noble families that supported him.
But what can she do? She wanted to be an emperor, and even if she didn't want to, she wasn't the right person for him as a prince.
Ethel immersed herself in work to erase her useless thoughts, and fortunately, the old lady took notice of her. She even made this suggestion first.
-"Ethel, I heard that my neighbor, Count Baron, is hosting a banquet this time. It's such a grand banquet that the existing guests won't be able to attend. So, why don't you go?"
Since there was no reason to refuse, Ethel accepted her offer.
Without even knowing what would happen there.
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